The present invention relates to method and apparatus for preventing irregular packaging in an automatic medicine packing machine. More particularly, the present invention relates to method and apparatus for vibrating a last hopper of an automatic medicine packing machine for preventing irregular packing in which a tablet stands vertical.
FIG. 7 shows an automatic medicine packing machine by prior art. The machine includes a plurality of tablet cassettes 200 that are installed in shelves that are provided in the upper part of a main body 100, a hopper 300 that is provided below the tablet cassettes 200 and has a last hopper 301 on its lower end, a pair of packing envelope rolls 400 provided on both sides of and below the hopper 300, a printing unit 500 that is provided below the rolls 400 and prints prescription, administering and patient information, a pair of feed rollers 600 that are provided below the hopper, a sealing unit 700 forming a bundle of packed envelopes by heat sealing the envelopes and provided between the hopper and the feed rollers, a punching unit 800 that punches holes on the bundle of envelopes and is provided below the sealing unit. In the operation of the machine, tablets discharged from the tablet cassette 200 to the hopper 300 are collected in the last hopper 301, and all the tablets are discharged at once and received in an envelope that is fed from the packing envelope roll 400 by the feed rollers 600. The envelope carrying the tablets is sealed by the sealing unit 700 while the envelope is moving downward, and the sealed envelope is discharged to the lower portion of the main body 100.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the last hopper 301 and a shutter driver unit 303 are installed on a main frame 101. The shutter driver unit 303 opens/closes a shutter 302 for the last hopper 301. The shutter driver unit 303 is operated as follows. A motor 303a rotates a rotating member 303b by a predetermined angle. Then an angular movement pin 303c is angularly moved and pushes a trigger 302a by a predetermined angle and thereby rotating a rotating pin 302b that is coupled to the trigger 302a, and the shutter 302 that is coupled to the rotating pin 302b is rotated. In this way, a lower part of the last hopper 301, which has been closed by the shutter 302, is opened and a tablet T that was contained in the last hopper is discharged between the pair of the packing envelope P. The tablet T discharged on the packing envelope P is packed by heat sealing of the envelope with the sealing unit 700.
To close the last hopper 301 again, the motor 303a is rotated to its initial position. Then the angular movement pin 303c is rotated back and return to its initial position. Then the pushing of the trigger 302a by the angular movement pin 303c is removed and elastic force by a torsion spring 302c that was pressing the rotating pin 302b is removed thereby returning the rotating pin 302b and returning the shutter 302 to its original position.
The disadvantage of the prior art is that when an elongate tablet like a capsule is positioned vertical in the last hopper, the vertically standing tablet falls down when the shutter is open, and remains vertical on the packing envelope. In this case, the upper end of the tablet is pressed by the sealing unit and may be broken or damaged. This break or damage is more frequent for a large tablet that is packed alone.